Drop-In Voyage
by Lily Noir
Summary: So how does one go about visiting family on the other side of the globe? Easy: just board a ship. There's a pit stop on the way, you say? Dangerous, is it? No biggie, simply wreak havoc. And watch out for that fist! Strongest man in the world? Really? Then, surpass him it is! - Luffy did always have his priorities straight... somewhat.
1. Stowaway

_Well, this was originally going to be an oneshot, but since it had three distinctive scenes (and each scene now looks like it could stand alone as an individual chapter) I decided to break it off into three different parts. So expect three chapters, people ^^ _

_Now, enjoy!_

**o.o.o.o.o.o**

A nice day, such a really nice day. There were so very few of those lately, it was almost becoming a bother. He sighed in something akin to bliss as the light breeze blew past him, ruffling the ends of his coat. Yep, the day really was a damn nice one. The sun was shining bright, not a cloud in the sky, and considering they weren't on the Grand Line anymore, it was going to stay that way for quite an amount of time.

Such an unpredictable ocean that place was, not many could survive it. With its damn one-second-it's-sunny-out-and-the-next-second-I'm- there-bam-you're-dead storms, its islands no sane bastard could navigate or find (please do bear in mind that the person the narration is currently focused on is no sane bastard himself, making the last thought a very biased opinion), islands that should not be considered islands because they're either flying up in the freakin' sky or fully submerged in the damn sea. And millions of other bothersome things that make it such a fuuun place.

He cackled loudly, scaring the poor sailors scrambling around him and making them stumble under their loads. ''Now, now, no need to be scared boys. I'm just in a good mood.'' Then he proceeded to laugh some more.

Mind you, it was probably his good mood scaring the poor men so. He was considered one crazy old bastard y'know, even if his reputation greatly outweighed personal opinions and rumours circling about. People still admired him, just... from afar.

He turned to face the open sea again, enjoying the calmness of the waters around him, knowing it would be a whole different picture once they enter that blasted ocean. His trademark shit-eating grin wedged itself in place, and he was hard pressed not to begin laughing again.

He was in a damn nice mood. Why you ask? Well, because he was just returning from a visit to his cute, troublemaking, brat of a grandson. Aww, what fun that boy always was. And getting real strong too, he'll be making a fine marine soon enough. Unlike his ungrateful, hot-headed, stubborn twit of a brother.

Garp's expression darkened and the marines skirted 'just a tad bit' wider and quieter round him.

Ace just had to go and do it, didn't he? He just had to go and become a damn pirate, didn't he? And Garp had trained him to become a fine Marine too. He just had to go and trample all over his hard work and go to be the scum of the seas. It was hard-wired in that kid's brain to disobey every little thing he was ever told to do. Maybe it's his blood shining through. Then again, Luffy did the exact same thing, and he _was_ related to Garp, so it couldn't be blood at work (he valiantly ignored something is his head screaming _'denial'_... maybe he should go for a check up- of his head ... though, the last time he did that Sengoku ended up scolding him for permanently breaking the brains of their most prized doctors).

So now, Ace was a pirate, exactly like his damn father he so hard tried to not to be like. What a stupid boy. And to top it all off, he was now a member of the crew of Whitebeard. How shocking, and yet not, it was to hear he'd joined that old bastard... he'd almost choked on his cracker when he'd heard. That unpredictable brat, and his unpredictable whims! He was more surprised the old pirate managed to out stubborn that stubborn grandson of his... a feat he'd previously thought only Luffy capable of.

But at least he was safe now. Well, as safe as any pirate sailing on the Grand Line could be. But the boy was strong, so very strong, he could take care of himself.

Luffy now, he was strong too. Even if he was only fifteen still. Come to think of it, when was his birthday again? Ace would be turning nineteen in just over two months, so the rubber squirt's would be in about half a year then.

He'll make that brat a marine, so help him.

On another note, he didn't seem to be making too much trouble. Not that he'd need to make it, since it did a very good job of following the brat around.

He sniggered again.

That boy was a trouble magnet if he ever saw one. And he seemed to be fairing without Ace well enough, though he kept bugging him to take him to visit his brother. Nothing his Fist of Love didn't cure. The boy had gotten quite fast since he last saw him, he actually had to chase him through half the forest before he caught up. The squirt's appetite didn't suffer any either, and damn him if it didn't triple since his last visit. He devoured food by the tons now.

Maybe they should build a bigger ship and add it to the fleet for the boy to serve on, God knows they're going to need it to sustain that black hole of a stomach.

_Pirate King,_ he snorted, _I'm gonna get you for that one, Akagami. _ That annoying meddlesome brat, poisoning his grandson like that. Of all the rotten ideas to put into his head, to become a pirate... he was not letting that happen.

_And why is it so much hotter all of a sudden, the sun is scorching, where is that breeze?_

''Garp-san, '' he turned to see an officer saluting him ''we've entered the calm belt.''

Aaaah, that explained it.

''Well, I'm going under deck then. It's bound to get even hotter here. Bwahahaha'' he turned and strode towards the cabin doors on the other side of the ship.

''Garp-san!'' an officer came running through the very door he was heading to, yelling on the top of his lungs. He stumbled to a halt right in front of him.

''Th-the food keeps on disappearing.'' He raised an eyebrow at the lad, who hurriedly continued to explain. ''We- we stocked the fridge and the pantry full on our stop at Goa Kingdom. Th-there should be very little missing since we only left two days ago, and h-half the usual number of crew is currently on the ship. However, more than half of the food is now gone. W-we think there might be a stowaway on the ship.''

There was a few seconds of silence on the deck. Garp blinked and started laughing. Soon most of the crew followed after him.

''A stowaway? Don't be silly boy. Who would be stupid enough to board a Marine ship with that intention?'' There was a suspicious niggling in the back of his skull, he tried to scratch it out.

''Yea, '' someone shouted ''must be a mindless idiot!'' ''Or you're just some paranoid bastards down there in the kitchen.'' another one added.

The boy in front of him reddened in embarrassment. ''But it's true, the provisions are gone. And if it's a rat, it's a damn big one then!'' He looked at Garp ''Vice Admiral, come! See for yourself then.''

''Fine, fine'' Garp laughed ''I might as well grab a bite when I'm down there.''

The officer leading him twitched, knowing he didn't believe him. And it was a pretty preposterous thought, someone having the guts to stow away on a marine ship. Though, it would be less guts and more like brainlessness. Seriously, who _would_ willingly board a high security ship under the orders of a _vice admiral,_ _with_ the said vice admiral (a very famous one in this case) on board. He tried to scratch the suspicious niggling, this time from the top of his head, away again.

''What will we do with the perpetrator when we apprehend him, Garp-san?''

Amused, Garp looked at the back of the audacious brat in front of him. He didn't even try to act like he believed there wasn't a possibility of the disturbance being anything other than a man. He liked those kinds of gutsy, straight-forward people... being one himself and all.

He was just about to open his mouth and say something when a commotion further down inside the ship distracted him. He marine in front of him flinched, and started trembling minutely. ''I say that no rat could ever cause that kind of noise.''

And really, any other rats than those monstrous ones found on some scant islands of the Grand Line could not possible be able to make that kind of noise. Garp could hear people shouting and the dull thud of a few impacts against the wood walls, actually he could even hear some of the cracks indicating the splintering of wood. Every once in a while someone screamed, from pain most likely. And every time the boy in front of him would flinch violently.

He quickened his steps, going ahead of the officer in front of him. He crossed the halls quickly, far faster than most marines there had ever seen him go. And he was curious as to what the thing making all that noise could be. Possibly, well, probably human, since they were in East Blue previously, and there weren't any suspicious creatures with the ability to board a ship unnoticed there. That brought up the question of who on that island could _(im)possibly_ be stupid enough to do it.

Other than Luffy.

''...!''

Garp froze. The sound of the wood walls of the interior of the ship breaking could be heard now. The sounds of fighting having grown loud enough to draw the marines stationed on the upper decks and out on the deck to the kitchen, en masse. He could see people running by him by the heaps, almost forming a steady line. Though, by the sound of it, it seems that as many officers that arrive there they are still not enough to subdue who-whatever it is. And by the sound of walls shattering, just the same number of people are flung from the commotion to other parts of the ship.

He shook his head, no way in _Hell _could the troublemaker (if Garp had warning bells like any normal human, they'd be going off right about now) making their ship more lively be Luffy. It just wasn't possible.

Firstly, he wouldn't dare do it in fear of bringing _his, _the dear grandfather he so loved and cherished, wrath upon his head. He had trained his grandson too thoroughly to _ever_ be able to forget his authority and do a stunt like this.

Secondly, though he may not acknowledge it, he was well aware his young grandson bore a kind of aversion towards marines. The kind in which he turned tail and ran for the hills yelling _'you'll never take me alive'_ and _'I dun wanna see jii-chan'_ (the latter of the two sentences earning him a loving bump on the head – thus leaving him unconscious – courtesy of his loving grandfather) the second he spotted a marine. (Little did Garp know that _that_ little fear/aversion was going to abruptly leave Luffy in the next year or two, coincidentally overlapping with his coming out as a pirate)

Thirdly, the brat wanted to become a pirate – here Garp snorted, thinking '_fat chance of that happening'._ So he would not board a ship full of marines, led by his marine grandfather and going to an all-marine destination, namely Marineford, where said (loony) marine grandfather would proceed to try to turn him into a respectable marine (which was going to happen anyways, if Garp had any say in it... which, he would sadly learn later, he had not).

And lastly, the kid had absolutely no kind of finesse at all. Luffy was most certainly not stealthy, nor sneaky, nor inconspicuous, nor quiet, nor trying to be quiet, nor patient, nor ingenious, nor lucky enough to possibly pull off an infiltration of a marine ship by himself (and no one in that village, or the bandits, would help him do something like this... even if he'd want to do it). It would require very quiet feet, perfect timing and a good plan to pass the sentries positioned strategically on the ship, not to mention luck, patience and sneakiness to actually lay low once he'd managed to get on the ship – things that have already been stated as absent as personality traits in that idiotic boy. He'd have been spotted immediately upon trying something.

Nope, Luffy was most definitely not the one to pull this stunt off. Njet, nada, no, nein, iie, ne.

With that all cleared up, Garp breathed a sigh of relief, let out a I-really-worked-myself-up-there-and-for-nothing sigh and got his feet moving again. The noise was louder, and closer, now. Maybe he'd walked some ways there while under thought... who knew, he shrugged it off and continued on his way unperturbed. The sound level steadily rose as he got closer, he started seeing marines nursing a few wounds along the hall.

One cradled his arm awkwardly with tears –silent ones though – streaming down his face, the thing must be broken. Not further off another was clenching his teeth, trying to brave the pain as a fellow marine gripped his upper arm and pulled then pushed it back into place. Garp winced sympathetically as he heard a pop; dislocated shoulders really were quite painful. He looked up to see someone flying right at him, he stepped aside and the rather tall man whooshed past him, crashing into a wall not two seconds after. He was just a few steps from the room that seemed to be the centre of the commotion.

Another reason why this could not be Luffy. He was sure even his monster of a grandson wasn't that strong. There were a lot of officers nursing injuries, and even more holes, dents and shattered planks of wood littering the walls, even the floor and ceiling. Not even that veritable hurricane of a child could cause this much damage... yet.

He stepped into the room, hearing very loud yelling from his soldiers, seeing men flying at the walls and crashing into them and each other with bruising force. The kitchen was in ruins, cutlery sprawled everywhere, plates in pieces, tables, chairs, cupboards and everything that could be moved was overturned and dented, some in pieces as well.

He brought up and arm and stopped another marine in the process of barrelling into him. Garp set the man, who was looking at him as if he'd seen Buddha himself, down and glanced up in search of the culprit.

And damn that boy had been right, no freaking rat could be responsible for this.

His gaze homed in on the cluster of bodies, where the white clad ones of his men were continuously being flung away from, and struggled to indentify the centre of the chaos.

Once he did, his eyes bulged out of their sockets, snot started dripping from his nose and his jaw opened so wide that one could have easily put a giant's fist in there and still have some space to spare. He could barely process what he was seeing in front of him.

There, right smack dab in the damn middle of everything was his foolish, troublemaking snot of a grandson, currently engaged in a fight against a sword carrying marine, a club carrying marine and about three other something-carrying marines... and winning.

That damn brat! So it _was_ him. And he'd been trying to convince himself otherwise so hard. He could feel his fingers twitch, itching for that that rubber head he was soon going to punch the lights out off.

Though, on another note, the brat was doing far better than he'd expected. There were some bruises and cuts littering his body, but nothing serious or deep, and certainly nothing that would be able to handicap him in any further fighting. Impressive, considering the number of men he'd been up against, and the number of those he'd been able to injure. His movements weren't half bad either, far more flexible than any normal human – probably attributed to his devil fruit power – and punches that rattle the opponents very bones, unsurprising, seeing how his arms stretch to accumulate the speed and force and then return with unnerving accuracy on his attackers. He didn't know Luffy had gotten so accurate with his hits.

He suddenly jammed an elbow into the gut of a man just starting to swing down his club. The marine doubled over and didn't get back up, Garp thought he'd heard the crunch of a rib breaking. He blinked to see his grandson quickly stepping away from the horizontal swing of a sword and then stretch his arm backwards, yelling _'Gomu Gomu no Pistol'_ and launching the officer and his sword out of the room. And Garp would never admit it out loud, but there was a sudden feeling of pride blooming in his chest when he saw Luffy extend his leg horizontally and simultaneously deal with the remaining marines surrounding him.

But, it was quickly extinguished when it occurred to him again that it was _his blasted grandson_ currently causing trouble in front of his own damn nose. He brought up his hand, instantly halting any and all men readying to attack the scrawny looking boy wearing the ridiculous straw hat. Luffy, who had his back turned to him, twitched and looked around wondering why they weren't attacking him anymore. He only caught a glimpse of his grandfather before Garp's fist descended and sent him flying through the wall.

The vice admiral looked terrifying, a dark aura swivelling around his form and fist raised. Though he had a wide (and rather proud too) grin etched across his face. It was gone by the time the kid pulled himself out of the rubble.

''OW, what was that for?''

A tick mark appeared on the side of Garp's head and he took a menacing step forward. Luffy, realising that it was his grandfather standing in front of him, that he was currently looking ready to kill something and that he was walking in his direction, started shaking minutely, inching backwards little by little.

''Luffy, what are you doing here?''

Luffy looked nervous. ''I hitched a ride, heh heh...'' he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Garp took another step forward, and, this time, all the marines took a collective step back. Luffy stood his ground though, though his shaking became a little more prominent.

''And _why_ have you hitched a ride?''

''Aaah, because I wanna see Ace.''

Garp was in front of him in an instant, his loving Fist of Love ready and already in motion. Luffy yelped and clutched his head, a rather large bump already forming. ''What was that for?'' he wailed.

''Becuse I told you I'm not going to take you to see your brother.'' He bellowed. ''He is a pirate, and I don't need another bad influence on you!''

''Well, that's too bad,'' Luffy pouted, showing no fear all of a sudden, leaving the surrounding marines speechless. ''since I'm goin' now anyways.'' Then he blinked. ''And Ace is not a bad influence!'' he yelled and head-butted his grandpa in the stomach.

Garp hardly even felt it.

''So what are we going to do now?'' he asked after sending Luffy through the wall, again. Some of the men surrounding him thought that they would have to get a new ship, this one resembled cheese with all the holes littering it. At least the hull hadn't been wrecked under the sea line, meaning they would be able to get back to headquarters safely... hopefully.

''Go see Ace!'' the voice came from rather far away this time.

''We are not going to go see Ace!''

''Yes we are!'' the voice sounded a little closer.

''No we aren't!''

''We are!''

''No!''

''Are so!''

''Are not!''

The marines watched, speechless, as the grandchild and grandparent argued. Like kids. The strawhat wearing boy, now indentified as Luffy, had come right up to the vice admiral and they were screaming right into each other's face. Garp remedied that by beating the brat into the ground. There was a collective sweatdrop from the on looking crowd.

''And how do you expect me to take you to your brother?''

A few moments of silence passed as the boy tried to pull his head out of the floorboards. It occurred to Garp that the ship is really going to need repairs now. Another thing to be mad at his troublesome grandson for.

''Eashy..'' came the muffled response, his jaw movements were probably limited by the wood, seeing as his reply came out sounding like he gritted it out through clenched teeth. ''Aaah-'' his head came free ''You'll sail the ship to him.''

And he earned himself another loving bump on the head.

''You ungreatful brat! How do you expect me to 'sail the ship to him' if he is a lowlife pirate and I'm a marine!?''

Luffy grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'like that'd stop _you_', and Garp started cracking his knuckles. Cold sweat dropped down Luffy's face at the terrifying sight. ''You'll be paying him a visit too!'' he yelled, and threw his arms up in defence.

A second passed and Luffy blinked, not feeling any impact. He dropped his arms slowly, only to see his grandpa frozen but blinking rather stupidly.

''Waaa, you actually have a good idea there, Luffy.''

The men around them sweatdropped again at hearing his words, collectively thinking, _that was a given if you were to be the one to get him there._

''Yaay'' the scrawny kid started jumping up and down rather comically in their opinion, his arms raised high above his head and a grin brighter than the noon sun on a summer island almost devouring his face. Oh, and he was jumping up almost his entire height's worth in the air.

What kind of monster was this kid!?

He put almost half of the entire ship's crew out of commission, alone. They shuddered, the kid looked barely fifteen years old, still nothing more than a teenager, and he was already this destructive. They suddenly dreaded the day he would 'grow up', praying to all deities in existence that he does _not_ become a marine. They wouldn't survive it. (This would be a good time to mention that over half of the ship's food supply was currently missing.)

Then again, they'd have to go up _against_ him if he became a pirate.

Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.

''But first,'' Garp gave a shit-eating grin, ''we have to go to Headquarters.''

''Okay!'' Luffy grinned.

Then blinked.

Then his eyes grew to the size of plates.

''Nooo,'' he wailed, ''Not where the marines are, where Ace is!''

Garp laughed uproariously.

''There, there, maybe we should get some training in while we're there.''

''I DON'T WANNAAAA!''

**o.o.o.o.o.o**

_That's it for part one. I don't know when you should expect the 2__nd__ chapter, probably sometime after my exams finish (they finish next week). I hope you liked reading this, and reviews are always welcome (constructive criticism and all). Stay tuned for the second instalment! (Where more fun awaits!) ;)_

_-lily_


	2. Pitstop

**o.o.o.o.o.o**

Luffy sulked.

He sat on a soft, squishy chair and sulked.

And glared at anyone and anything that passed in front of him.

But mostly he sulked.

Why you ask?

Because he was currently in a room surrounded by a lot of other rooms, rooms which were filled with marines. . .

He was on an island with a huge-ass fortress. An island where every person was a marine.

They called it Head-Quaders, though he didn't know what head has anything to do with it. They also called it Marinefart, a nice name in his opinion. Fitting.

Now he was sitting in a chair, told to sit there by his grandfather and not move or face the pain of The Fist of Death. He didn't care if grandpa called it the Fist of Love, there was nothing loving about that torture device.

And he was hungry. They haven't given him anything to eat since he got here.

Anyway, he was sitting here while his grandfather and some other funny looking people had a meeting.

_They are probably eating there too,_ he thought sulkily.

Grandpa had wanted to bring him along, saying that it would help him be a better marine. Ptoey, he's gonna be the Pirate King, not a marine. And he'd said it too, right then and there. Though, he didn't know why everyone had looked so shocked. Especially that weird bird head dude.

And grandpa had socked him over the head, then said he had to stay here and wait for him.

So now he had to wait here for his stupid grandpa, bored out of his mind. He could hear people going about all over the place. Looking out the window, and passed the bustling streets of the town below, he saw some people in white (guh, marines again!) doing something funny by the sea. They'd salute some important looking dude, scatter around, and then do something, and do some other something and come back to stand in front of the important looking dude again. And repeat. But it looked like fun, maybe he should join them.

He was just getting up to launch himself out of the window, the threat of Garp's fist long forgotten, when his stomach decided to remind him he was hungry. Very loudly.

''Waaah, I'm hungry!'' he announced to no one in particular (as no one was in the room with him), and proceeded to waltz out of the room (using the door, luckily, as some of the people in the hall noted.. he was Garp's grandson after all, they'd been in the near vicinity when Garp had loudly declared it so to Sengoku, they wouldn't have put it passed him to create his own exit). And now, off he went to fulfil the all important task of finding sustenance.

He went down one hall, turned left into another, turned right into yet another one, left again, straight this time, right now.. and so on and so forth he meandered through one of the most dangerous places on the planet (for a pirate anyways) and got himself lost. He didn't even notice he passed the room his grandfather sequestered him in a grand total of five times, and neither had the thought entered his head that he stayed on the same floor. People he passed numerous times started to question if he was all right in the head (not at all, but they couldn't have known that, _these_ people weren't there to hear who he was related to).

But Luffy just kept on going, whistling all the while, looking for the paradise known as the 'Kitchen'. He regularly looked out the window, trying to spot if what he was looking for was outside. No such luck. He passed people on the hall, they were all going somewhere in a hurry. Why were they hurrying? There was nothing interesting going on as far as he knew. Then again, maybe there was something he didn't know about.

''Oii.'' He stopped the first person to cross his path. ''Why are you hurrying?''

''What's with you brat?! Don't just ram into people in the hall!'' the gangly looking young man seemed rather annoyed.

''Why are you hurrying?''

A tick mark started throbbing on the head on the marine. ''I need to deliver the papers. Now step aside. '' And he showed Luffy out of the way.

Luffy looked at the receding back of the man for a few seconds before declaring, ''He's hungry too. Hungry people are always grouchy. Ace was like that all the time.''

''You!'' he stopped someone else, an older man this time. ''Why are you hurrying?''

''My ship is sailing of soon, young lad.'' He couldn't see his mouth, but the man's beard and moustache moved in a funny way when he spoke.

''You're funny. '' Luffy laughed at the man.

''Ah, well..'' The man stroked his beard. ''I'll be going then, lad.''

The next several people he stopped had similar reasons (papers and reports mostly) and reactions varying between annoyed to bewildered at seeing a young boy in the fortress. Luffy shrugged it off, going about his previous task of trying to find the food. He was just about to turn into a corner when he rammed into someone, someone twice his height, and was thrown back on his butt.

''Whaa?'' He looked up to see a big man with strange hair standing in front of him.

''Are you alright, kid?'' the man, who Luffy saw was wearing a coat just like his grandpa's, asked and extended his hand to haul the boy back onto his feet.

''Yeah, shishishi'' he laughed. ''Why are you hurrying, ossan?''

''Hmm, '' he eyed the kid in front of him strangely. ''I'm late for a meeting. ''

''Meeting? Like the one jii-chan went to? ''

_Jii-chan?_ ''Probably.''

''Aaah, you don't wanna go there. It's boring! But there are a lot of funny looking people..'' Luffy looked thoughtful now.

The man blinked and sweatdropped at the weird boy. ''What are you doing here, kid?''

''Huh, me?'' he pointed at himself. '' I wanna go see my brother. I haven't seen him in soooooo long, I'm starting to miss him too. But I know he's having fun, and doing whatever he wants. So I hid on grandpa's ship and told him I wanna go for a visit. But jii-chan hit me and told me I can't go, but I told him we have to go, so he told me we're going. But jii-chan was being mean so he said we had to go here first, I don't wanna be heeeere! There are marines here!''

The marine stared at the kid, he didn't understand half of what just came out the boy's mouth. ''Aah, really?''

''Yeah.'' The boy nodded and seemed like he had a thought. ''I'm Luffy! What's your name, ossan?''

''… Momonga.''

''Nice to meet'cha, shishishi'' Then he seemed like he had another thought. ''Say, ossan? Do you know where I could get some fooooood?'' he started drooling at the 'fooooood'.

The kid was getting weirder and weirder by the second. ''In the kitchens.''

''I know that.'' He waved his hand in front of his face to further his point. ''But, where are the _kitchens_?''

''A few floors below…'' Momonga then gave the young teen directions on how to get to the specific location of the food, watching the entire time how the boy's eyes got shinier and shinier and how more and more drool started to escape his mouth.

''Thanks, ossan!'' he cheered and was off. Momonga was left to watch, dumbfounded, the trail of dust left in the kid's wake. He shook his head and turned to head to the meeting room. ''Who was that kid anyway? And who's his grandfather?'' he muttered to himself. ''And why did he want to know my name if he wouldn't use it?''

However, even with directions, Luffy still managed to get himself lost, again. He'd been running all around the giant fortress for some time now. Up and down floors, sticking his head into rooms (sometimes multiple times in the same ones, as he'd been running around in circles quite often), and generally bumping into people on almost every step. He'd garnered himself quite the attention, since there were people running around now trying to find him.

But it meant little to the strawhat wearing boy as he caught the whiff of food. ''Aaaah, I should've done it like this in the first place.'' and he started following his nose, which was following the tantalising smell, toward his great goal.

''Ooof.'' He bumped into an old lady on the way, but kept running in the direction of the food. ''Sorry, obaa-chan.'' He called back.

''Tsuru-chan! Are you alright?'' A rotund officer ran up to the old marine.

''I'm fine. I would take more than some scrawny brat to take me down.'' She looked in the direction the boy disappeared. ''But who was that boy?''

''We don't know.'' The man growled. ''But he has been causing a ruckus. ''

''A new recruit maybe?''

''Doubtful. He's been yelling 'You'll never catch me alive, marines!' every time some of us chasing him spot the little troublemaker.'' He rubbed his shoulder then. ''But the brat is strong, almost dislocated my shoulder when he bumped into me.''

''Hnn.. And energetic one then.'' She chuckled. ''Make sure you catch him before he does any real damage.''

''Yes, ma'am.'' He saluted and ran off.

Finally! Finally he had found it! Food! Lots and lots of food! Luffy's eyes were the side of plates as he took in the sight in front of him. ''I'm in heaven!'' he yelled at the top of his lungs and dived for it. He devoured the food by piles, in two minutes half of the buffet in the room was missing. The rest went soon after. But Luffy didn't care, the food was soooo gooood. Better than anything Dadan and the mountain bandits ever made. It was almost the same as the restaurants in High Town he used to eat from back when he was younger. _Hmmm, maybe I'll go to one of those again when I get back home. _

Quite a large number of marines stood in front to the dining hall, peering past each other to see the commotion. Most stood dumbfounded in their spot, seeing that a scrawny squirt cleared out the entire _mountain_ of food meant for over three hundred soldiers (though this was just one shift and one of the massive kitchens in the entire fortress, but still...) they couldn't help but wonder what kind of demon was sitting just a few metres from them.

''More food!'' he yelled in the general direction of the kitchen. If the cooks weren't aware of the happenings outside their doors, they certainly were now.

_He ate all that and wants MORE, w_as the collective disbelieving thought of the crowd.

''Oi, oi, who the hell is that kid?'' Someone had managed to find his voice and asked out loud.

''I have absolutely no idea. But did you see what he just pulled?'' Came the reply of another one.

''I see it, but I don't believe it. Where did all of it go?'' A blond man from the front of the crowd murmured. ''That was more than ten times his size.''

''Hey, that's the brat we've been looking for! What's he doin' in the kitchen?''

''Oiii, where'd all the food go?''

''WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!'' An enraged cook shouted from the door of the kitchen.

''Oiii, ossan'' Luffy waved his hand in the air. ''More food! I'm starving!''

_STARVING!? How in the blazes can he be starving?! He ate it all!_ The collective marine audience shouted in their heads.

''You!'' the apoplectic cook pointed at the boy. ''Were you the one to do all this?''

He tilted his head to the side. ''Do what?''

''EAT ALL THE DAMN FOOD!''

''Yeah, shishishishi. And I want more, ossan.''

A rather prominent vein started throbbing on the back of the cook's head ''You little shit!''

Luffy had to duck an incoming frying pan. ''Oi, oii, what was that for?'' he straightened himself back to his full (but unimpressive) height.

But the cook was far from being able to answer him, he charged at the scrawny kid in front of him like an enraged bull. Luffy ducked out of the way, but the table that'd been behind him took the hit, and exploded into splinter wood. Luffy kept dodging the man, but the dining hall took all the damage, looking less the dining hall it was and more like a battlefield.

''Hey, how can that kid keep evading the huffy cook?''

''Dunno, but that one is famous for having a short temper and an even shorter fuse. Somebody better get that kid out of there before he gets killed.''

''I say let him get beat up, the brat had me running all around the place looking for him.''

''That's him.'' The most of the people turned to see the one who yelled. ''It's him. That's Garp's grandson.''

A beat of silence.

''WHAT?! GRANDSON?!''

Meanwhile, Luffy had gotten bored with the loud ossan and his charging around. He ducked beneath the man's fist and brought back both of his arms as far as they could go, namely to the wall on the other side of the room. ''Gomu Gomu no'' he muttered, and smashed both of his palms into the unprotected stomach of his opponent, sending him flying across the room ''Bazooka.'' The man indented the solid wall a little from the impact.

The whole lot of the marines there were too preoccupied with the spectacle to notice an Admiral going their way. Said Admiral was going back to his office after leaving the meeting early and spotted the crowd. He'd just heard someone revealing the fact that Garp the Hero had a grandson and looked passed the all heads and into the room, only to see a man sail by and meet the wall, painfully. He turned his gaze to the direction the man came flying from and noticed a small teenage boy standing there. But he was one who knew that appearances can be deceiving, and seeing the damage done to the immediate area, he could admit to being rather impressed with the kid.

Said kid, however, panicked after hearing his grandfather's name called out loud ''What?! Jii-chan!'', and made his exit. By smashing through the wall.

All the crowd was able to do, after standing there stunned by seeing a little brat fling a man multiple times his own size cleanly across the hall, is think, _yes that is definitely the blood relation of one Garp the Fist, the walls must be crying._

''Seriously, '' Akainu gruffly commented in the silence, ''did he have to demolish the wall?''

A beat of silence as every head turned to him.

''Admiral! When did you get here?!'' Came the collective yell of the crowd. And Akainu felt the burning desire to discipline all the idiots in front of him.

Luffy was running at full speed, like the hounds of hell were at his heels. In fact, he was running because he thought his grandfather was chasing him. There was nothing on the planet quite as scary as his grandfather and that threatening fist. He pushed his legs harder, seeking to outrun the perceived threat, not giving a thought to the people he bowled over, splattered across the wall, stomped on or otherwise injured.

His sole motivating thought was getting the hell out of there. So he navigated the halls as best he could (mainly by taking random turns), kicked in doors he thought would be helpful to his cause and found himself out of the fort and on the crowded streets of the town below.

Only then did he look behind and realized that Garp was nowhere in sight.

''Phew, saved.''

He looked around and came to the conclusion that he didn't know where he was.

''Huh, did I get lost or something?'' He tilted his head to the side.

''Well, nevermind. Time to explore!'' And he was off.

He wandered through the streets of the town, the people here weren't dressed in marine uniforms, sure there were some marines here and there, but mostly he saw women and children mulling about. Kids were playing some funny games and there were some random vendors all over the place, selling weird stuff, sometimes he'd swipe some food from a food stall he passed, trying not to get noticed. He looked at everything with wide eyes, there weren't things like this back home.

Somehow, he found himself on the plaza, looking at the vastness of the ocean.

He couldn't wait to set sail.

Movement caught his eyes and he turned to see the funny marines that were doing stuff, he remembered seeing them back when he was sitting in the room jii-chan dumped him in. It still looked fun, so he went over.

''Oi, ossan,'' he addressed the uptight person that always stayed in place, ''can I play too?''

The man huffed at him. ''Get lost kid. Don't you see we're in the middle of a drill?''

''But I wanna play,'' he whined.

''Play?! You think this is a game!?''

''Uh, yeah.''

''GET LOST!'' the man yelled, blood vessels popping in his eyes and veins throbbing on his temples.

''Booo..'' Luffy pouted. He didn't want to listen to the loud man, but he saw something in his peripheral vision and turned. There was a bell, a cool looking bell, not fifty metres from him. His eyes started shining; he wanted to ring it. He wanted to ring it soooo bad.

Luffy ran up to the cool bell, looking up at it for a few moments. Then he grabbed the rope and made to swing it.

''Uh, commodore?'' a nervous looking sailor addressed the fuming man. Said commodore was trying to get his blood pressure under control after losing his cool to some pretentious brat.

''Yes, sailor?'' he snapped. The man before him flinched at his tone, but answered, pointing his finger at something.

''What is that boy doing?''

The commodore followed the direction of the pointing finger and stared in shock.

''YOU!'' he bellowed, turning the heads and getting the attention of everyone is his general vicinity. Except his intended target. Luffy ignored him, after all, anyone here could be 'you'.

''Brat with the straw hat! What do you think you're doing?!'' he stated, marching up to the troublesome brat. Thus directing the attention he'd garnered over to the kid.

Luffy finally turned to look at him. ''Who? Me?'' he pointed at himself.

''Yes, you!''

''Uhh, I was thinking of ringing this cool bell. Wouldn't it be awesome.''

The man's face was turning a colour shade of something between blue and purple. ''No, it would not be _awesome_! You can't just ring the Ox Bell!''

Luffy's head tilted to the side. ''And why not?''

''Because it's not the right time,'' the man was shaking now, ''and you don't have permission to do it.''

''Whattaya mean it's not the right time?'' he started picking his nose with his pinkie.

The poor commodore looked like one of his major blood vessels would burst and second. ''It is only done on the turning of the years.''

There were a few seconds of silence as Luffy merely stared at the man... and then shrugged.

''Maah, I'm gonna do it anyway.''

And he gripped the rope tighter, but just as he was about to pull on it the commodore, who'd gotten fairly close to him, jumped. Luffy saw him and jumped out of the way just in time to prevent being squashed under the man.

''Hey, what was that for?''

''This kind of disrespect will not be tolerated,'' the man said ominously as he pulled himself to his feet, ''Men, apprehend him!''

The marines watching took a moment to react, the commodore was basically telling them to arrest a child, but followed orders regardless. The words of a superior officer were absolute. They charged at Luffy, who, seeing the trouble heading his way, turned tail and bolted off.

What proceeded was probably the biggest commotion Marineford had experienced in a while. Luffy ran across the bay several times, a hoard of marine soldiers hot on his tail, then he ducked into the streets of the town. They had trouble following him there, but remedied that by splitting off and trying to cut off the kid's escape routes. And it worked, somewhat, Luffy would regularly find his way through the street blocked by some soldiers whenever he managed to ditch those pursuing him, but he was a resourceful little bugger and would pass between their legs or jump over their heads.

Later, after hearing the entirety of what one, Monkey D Luffy, had done during his stay on the island, Sengoku would lament at how a single boy managed to outdo the marines in their own stronghold.

Elsewhere, in a large room in the fort, quite a few high ranking marines were holding a meeting, which turned out to be not so important, when they heard a commotion and shouts coming all the way down from the bay. They ignored it, thinking it was a minor disturbance and would pass soon enough. But as several minutes passed by, and the noise still didn't abate, people started wondering what was the matter.

''What in the world is going on down there?'' one Yamakaji, Vice Admiral of Marineford, murmured to himself.

Garp had a thought, but dismissed it. _Nah, it couldn't be. I left the brat in a room a few floors below._

''…''

_Meh, who am I kidding. Of course it's that idiotic grandson of mine, it can't be anyone else._

Sengoku sighed. ''Excuse me for a moment. I'll ask for a report.'' He exited the room and removed a baby den den mushi from an inner pocket of his jacket. ''Report! What is happening there?''

And, as it so happens, the one that answered his call was none other than the righteous commodore that sent his men on a wild goose chase through half of the island. ''Sengoku, sir! Commodore Daigin reporting. We are currently chasing a presumptuous brat that dared to try to ring the Ox Bell. We have yet to apprehend him, my sincerest apologies, but consider it done.''

_Brat?_ Sengoku could feel a headache coming in. _Something tells me it's Garp's spawn._ ''Describe him to me.''

''What, sir?''

''Describe the boy's appearance to me!'' Sengoku was slowly, but surely, getting annoyed.

''Umm.. well… red west, jean shorts, and a straw hat, I believe.''

_Why does it have to be the blood of that idiotic man? I knew Garp shouldn't have reproduced. _''Call it off. The boy is Vice Admiral Garp's grandson. He is not dangerous,'' _probably,_ ''just dim witted,'' _certainly. _

''Yessir!... _What_? Vice admiral Garp's _grandson_?''

But Sengoku hung up, halting further questions and exclamations. Barely out of diapers, and that boy was already bringing trouble and headaches his way. Sengoku had half a mind to start fearing the future.

He entered the room again and shot Garp a glance. ''Your grandson is a damn handful, Garp!'' _As I knew he would be the second those words spewed from his mouth._

Garp blinked. ''So it _was_ Luffy.''

_Luffy?_ Momonga thought. _That kid I met on the way here? So Garp was 'grandpa'._

''Yes,'' Sengoku sat down heavily on his chair.

''What'd he do?''

''Tried to ring the Ox Bell.''

A moment of dead silence passed before Garp bent over and guffawed for all he was worth.

''Don't laugh, Garp! That kid will bring nothing but trouble, I can just feel it,'' Sengoku snapped at his old 'friend', a tick mark appearing on his face. ''Go deal with him!''

''Yes, yes.'' Garp waved a hand in front of him, tears from laughing too hard running down his face.

As was his tendency whenever he moved at high speeds to get away from, or to somewhere - preferably to a location with meat, Luffy set his sights way ahead, thus not looking where he was stepping. It proved detrimental at this point, as his feet caught on an obstacle, but the rest of his body kept moving. He ended up kissing the ground.

Not that it hurt him, mind you, but it did surprise him.

''Whaa? What'd I trip on?''

He turned to see a big man lying on his side in the middle of the street. The dude hadn't even moved.

''Oi, lazy-ossan, what're you doing?'' he poked the lying man.

Said man lifted his sleeping mask to eye the disturbance. It was a boy. ''Ara, resting.''

''Why are you resting in the middle of the street?''

''Didn't feel like moving.''

''Oooh... sounds like fun. I'll join too!''

And just as Luffy was about to lay down, a shiver ran up his spine. He had a bad feeling all of a sudden.

It was proven correct moments after when a fist made contact with his hatted head. His teeth rattled from the impact and he yelped out in pain.

''Owie, what was that for?!'' he turned around, only to see none other than his grandfather.

''Grandpa!''

''You,'' Garp pointed a finger at the poor boy, ''Didn't I tell you to stay in that room?!''

''But, but, but, but, Jii-chan! It's sooooo boring in there!''

''I don't care! When I say something, you better do it!''

''Ara, I didn't know you had a grandson, Vice Admiral Garp.''

Garp looked at the - now sitting - man behind Luffy. ''Oooh, hey there, Kuzan, yup, this is my cute little grandson.'' He gestured at the empty spot before him.

Luffy had high tailed it out of there the second his grandfather's attention wasn't on him.

''EEEH! WHERE'D HE GO?!''

Luffy heard him from the other side of the island (he can be a fast little bugger, when he has half a mind to be). ''Phew, grandpa didn't follow me.'' He noticed there were a lot of marines around him. ''Huh, how did I end up back here?''

He was back in the fort.

''Hey, kid.''

Luffy turned to see a big man (were all marines big men?) in a red suit walking up to him. ''Huh, me?'' he pointed at himself.

''Yes. You're Garp's grandson, aren't you?''

''Yeah!'' he laughed. ''And who're you?''

''Sakazuki.''

''Like the sake?'' his head tilted to the side, remembering the foul liquid he and Ace and Sabo drank, swearing themselves to be brothers.

Akainu ignored his question. ''Are you here to become a marine, kid?''

''No! I won't ever become a marine!''

''And why not?'' his eyes narrowed contemplatively on the boy.

'' 'Cause that's not my dream! I'll become a pirate! The Pirate King!''

''THE HELL YOU WILL!'' and he was punched through a wall. ''No grandson of mine will be a pirate!''

No one knew exactly how Garp had found his grandson, or how he got here so quickly, or how he managed to be quiet enough (Garp and the word 'quiet' don't mix, just as Luffy and the word 'quiet' don't mix either).

He jumped out of the debris. ''I will, jii-chan! And you can't stop me!''

''Why you...'' Garp ground his teeth together.

''Then that will make us enemies.''

Both family members turned to look at the Admiral.

Luffy was staring at Akainu with a surprisingly blank face, and the man met his stare evenly.

Suddenly, Luffy laughed. ''Yeah, we'll be enemies then. Shishishishi''

**o.o.o.o.o.o**

_Well, here's the second part. _ _My exams are done (and I passed all of them! Yaaay) but I still have to write a paper for my Political Economy class, and I don't know how long that will take (but when it's done and handed over, I'll get to work finishing the final part of this)._

_-lily_


End file.
